Clock controlled switching device



June 5, 1956 c. s. ASKEW CLOCK CONTROLLED SWITCHING DEVICE 2Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 16, 1951 Crawford 5. Askew IN VEN TOR.

Jun 5, 1956 c. s. ASKEW CLOCK CONTROLLED SWITCHING DEVICE Filed Aug. 16,1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3. 39

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4 Crawford 5. Askew INVENTOR.

States This invention relates to switches operated by time settingdevices by means of an electric circuit containing current consumingappliances which may be closed at a preset time so as to start operationof the appliance and thereafter may remain closed until opened again ata preset time, the closing and opening of the circuit being initiated byan electrically or mechanically driven clock. Time controlled switchesof this type have, during recent years, been manufactured as separateunits not specially adapted to any single consumption apparatus. Thisentails however certain disadvantages. Some of the consumptionapparatus, such as electric motors, sadirons and other appliances whichare frequently controlled by such switches draw heavy currents in thestarting or cold phase which may produce arcs and which may easilydamage the contacts. Also the interruption of relatively heavy currentdrawn by an appliance operating at the normally used line voltage islikely to cause arcing at the controlling contacts unless specialprecautions are taken and the distance through which the contacts moveupon interruption is large and the speed with which they move is high.The introduction of snap switches or similar switches producing such acontact movement during interruption into devices of this type ishowever a major complication of devices operating with clocks, as clockscannot usually furnish the necessary energy for a power consumingoperation.

It is a main object of the invention to so arrange and connect thecontacts of the time setting device that are formation between them iseffectively suppressed or is minimized, this result being obtainedwithout the addition of any auxiliary device or appliance.

A further object of the invention consists in providing a contact devicehaving contacts of very small size which permits to obtain the highestaccuracy while at the same time effectively minimizing and suppressingarcing.

According to the invention the contact devices moved by the clock arealways in series with the relay winding operating the contact switchesand if this relay is of relatively high ohmic and inductive resistance,the development of arcs upon separation of the contacts is effectivelysuppressed or minimized, while nevertheless the full line voltage can beapplied to the electric appliance controlled by the contact device.

Further, according to the invention, the contact surfaces of the controlcontacts move in the same plane which they never leave and which eithercontains a conducting or an insulating surface cooperating with acontact of very small surface projecting into this plane.

Further, according to the invention, it is possible on account of theeffective suppression of arcs, to reduce the contact surface of at leastone of the contacs to such an extent that a high accuracy of timing isobtainable which exceeds the accuracy obtainable with other types ofcontacts.

Further features of the invention and further objects will be explainedin detail in the following specification.

The invention will be best understood by describing it 2,748,858Patented June 5, 1956 ice with reference to the accompanying drawingsshowing one embodiment of the invention. It is however to be understoodthat the embodiment illustrated in the drawings has been shown by way ofexample only in order to explain the principle of the invention and thebest mode of applying said principle. The principle of the invention maybe carried into effect in several ways, as will be clear to the expert,and a departure from the example shown in the drawing is therefore notnecessarily a departure from the principle of the invention.

Figure l is an isometric view of the clock operated time setting andswitching device.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the mechanism with the casing removed.

Figure 3 is an elevational front view of the mechanism.

Figure 4 is an elevational sectional view of one of the time settingdevices, the section being taken along line 4-4 of Figure 5.

Figure 4a is an elevational sectional view of the other time settingdevice;

Figure 5 is an elevational side view of the time setting devices shownin Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an elevational view of the essential parts of thearrangement and also diagrammatically shows the electrical connections.

Essentially the combined time setting and switching device according tothe invention comprises an electric clock, two pairs of circuit controlcontacts, and a relay switch with a relay winding and with switchcontacts controlling the load circuit containing the appliance.

The energization and de-energization of the relay switch is controlledby the aforesaid two pairs of circuit control contacts. Each pair ofcontacts comprises a clock driven contact and a manually adjustablecontact, and each contact of each pair moves in a circle with itscontact surface always remaining in the same plane. By adjusting andpresetting the position of one of the contacts of each pair by hand bymeans of a setting device, the other clock driven contact will reach orleave preset contact at a definite time and thereby either make or breakthe circuit controlled by the said circuit control contacts.

One of the two contact pairs closes the circuit of the relay switch atthe time at which the clock driven contact sweeps past the presetcontact. Thereby the relay switch is energized with the relay windingwhich is of high resistance, in series with the contacts. The operationof the relay switch then switches in the appliance to be controlled onthe load circuit and also shifts the connections in such a manner thatnow the second pair of contacts is in series with the relay windingthereby holding the relay winding energized even after the first namedpair of contacts has separated. The relay switch remains energized untilat a predetermined time, again fixed by the presetting of one of thesaid contacts, the two contacts of the second pair separate and therelay switch circuit is interrupted, the relay switch then falling back.It will be noted that the relay switch winding is always in series withthe contacts of the combined time setting and switching device whenmaking or breaking of these contacts occurs. When the relay switch isde-energized the load circuit is cut off from the source of electricpower.

Referring now to the embodiment of the invention which is represented inthe drawing it will be seen that Figure 1 illustrates the generalarrangement and outward appearance of the electric clock operated timesetting and switching device. The device comprises a casing it} mountedon a suitable base 11, said casing housing the clock motor 20 (shown inFigure 2) and also housing the two time setting devices 21, 22 and thecontacts associated with the same. The base of the clock preferablyhouses the relay switch with its relay coil 24, the cus tomary manualswitch 25, signal lights 23, 26 and other units to be described.

On the front of the clock casing a clock dial 12 is arranged over whichan hour hand, minute hand and second hand 14, 15, 16 respectively, maymove. From the two sides of the casing 19 two lateral wing plates 17, 18project which form the indicator dials for the two time setting devices21, 22. The setting devices are provided with a time setting lever 19,29 respectively, each lever being provided with a handle 28 and apointer 27, the latter being in front of the wing plate and moving overa graduated scale 30 on the said arcuate wing plate. The graduations infront of the wing plate 17, 18 indicate hours, half hours, quarter hoursand minutes, the graduations, of course, being selected in accordancewith the degree of accuracy which is obtainable and desired. The levers19, 29 are pivoted at a point inside the casing 10 and may be movedaround said pivot point in order to set the device in a manner describedbelow.

The base 11 of the casing 10 is provided with two windows 31, 32 behindwhich indicator lights 23, 26 are arranged indicating the condition ofthe appliance to be controlled. A manual switch 25" controls theconnection of the time setting device and of the load circuit with thesupply lines. Through a further opening in the base the supply cable 33ending in a plug 34 to be inserted into any outlet connected with thepower lines may pass. Finally a socket 35 is provided into which theplug (not shown) of the cable leading to the appliance to be controlledis inserted.

The clock mechanism driving the pointer is conventional and comprisesthe usual single phase synchronous motor 20 (Figure 2) driving the mainclock shaft 36. Within the casing a framework 37 is arranged forcarrying the time setting mechanism which framework consists of twospaced parallel frame plates 38, 39 and of the front bail 46, the twoframe plates being held by spacer bolts 4-1 while the strip-likesubstantially U-shaped bail member 49 is held on the front frame plate39 by means of rivets or bolts.

The clock shaft 36 driving the hour hand passes through suitable boresin the three frame members and is hollow and encloses the shafts for theminute and second hands which are driven by means of gear trains fromthe clock shaft 36 (not shown) in the conventional manner, said geartrains having the required ratio for the transmission of movementbetween the said shafts.

The hour hand shaft 36 may have a rearward extension 42 provided with aknob in order to be able to adjust the clock.

The shaft 36 carries and drives the main gear wheel 44 which may beprovided with a sleeve fixed on the shaft 36 by means of a set screw.This main gear wheel meshes with two spur gear wheels 45, 46 which arefreely rotatable on pins 47, 48 respectively, held in the frame members39 in a manner described below.

The gear wheel 45 drives the contact device controlling the making orclosing of the relay switch circuit. This gear wheel is mounted on asubstantially cylindrical fiber body or disk 49 upon the front portionof which a metal collar 50 is mounted. This metal collar has asubstantially cylindrical peripheral portion surrounding the fiber bodyand from the said collar a contact tooth 51 projects radially andinwardly (Figure 6). It will be seen that the metal collar 50 and thecontact tooth 51 which are both mounted on the fiber body move with thegear wheel 45 and therefore both are driven by the clock shaft 36.During such movement the contact tooth 51 therefore always occupies aposition which corresponds to the position of the pointers on the dialand to the hour indicated by said position.

The pins 47, 48 are hollow and may be provided with internal screwthreads for about half their length. They may be held on the framemember by means of screws 55 which engage the internal screw threads ofthe pins.

One half of the hollow pins 47 serves as a bearing for a shaft 56 whichmay also be journaled in a bore of the bail member 4t). This shaft 56carries a further fiber disk 59 surrounded by a metal collar 54. Thefiber disk 59 may be pressed on or may otherwise be fixedly mounted inorder to rotate with the shaft 56.

The fiber disk 59 carries a contact pin 65] which may fit into and maybe held by a small metal tube 62 which pierces the fiber disk 59 andwhich is held by it. This tube may be joined to the metal collar 58 bymeans of an elastic wire connection 63.

On that portion of the shaft 56 which projects beyond the bail member 40towards the front a pinion 65 is mounted which is secured to the shaft56 for rotation. Between the bail member 40 and the fiber disk 59 aspring 64 is inserted pressing the fiber disk 59 and the shaft towardsthe fiber disk 49.

The two fiber bodies or disks &9, 59 are therefore held in such a mannerthat the pin 6t? is always applied against the end surface of the fiberdisk 49 and may come into contact with the contact tooth 51 of the metalcollar 50 projecting inwardly on the surface of said disk during therotation of the fiber bodies or disks.

The pinion 65 meshes with the toothed segment 66 carried by the pivotedlever 19 of the time setting device 21. The pivot of lever 19 is formedby the pivot pin 68 which is held in the frame members 39 and 4d. Thepivot pin is provided with a retainer disk 69 between which and the bailmember 40 a spring 70 is inserted. Said spring maintains the lever andthe toothed segment in its correct axial position.

The lever 19, as already described above, is provided with a handle 28and with the pointer 27 which moves over the graduations 30 on the frontside of the wing plate 17. The graduation of the wing plate, as will beclear, is made along the arc of a circle the center of which is formedby the axis of the pivot pin 68.

In order to supply current to the contact device a contact rod 72 may beprovided (Figure 6) which carries a retainer disk or piston 73 insertedinto a cylindrical housing made of fiber or of any other insulatingmaterial. A spring 74 inside said housing is applied against theretainer disk or piston 73 pressing the contact rod 72 against thecollar 50. A simplified form of this contact device is shown at 76 whichrepresents a fiber housing having a bore 77 into which a brass spring 78is inserted pressed on one side against a fixed contact member 79 and onthe other side pressing against the movable contact rod 80 which ispressed against the metal collar.

The contact elements of the second time setting device 22 whichdisconnects at a predetermined time is very similar to or identical withthose described; merely the contact making disk 88 connected with thespur gear wheel 46 differs in its construction from its counterpart inthe device 21. The elements of the device 22 which are of a constructionidentical with that of their counterparts in the device 21 have beendesignated by the same reference letters which were used when describingthe device 21 followed by the index a. These elements need therefore notto be described.

The above mentioned contact disk of the device 22 comprises a body offiber material 25 the front end of which is covered by a cup-shapedmetal collar 90. This cup-shaped member has a cylindrical peripheralouter portion to which an inwardly projecting annular skirt portion 91covering a part of the front end of the fiber disk 95 is joined. Thesaid annular skirt portion 91 is provided with a cut or indentation 92.

The second contact member comprises a fiber disk or body 86 which isencircled by a cylindrical metal collar 83 which carries a pin 88projecting from the end of the fiber body towards the fiber body 95. Thepin is inserted into the tube 62a carried by the fiber body and isconnected with the cylindrical metal collar 83 by means of an elasticwire connection 63a. The contact rod 82 which is applied against theperipheral portion of the cup-shaped metal collar is in electricalconnection with the metal collar 90 by mean: of pin 38 applied againstthe skirt portion 91 which contact is maintained practically all thetime except when the cut portion or indentation 92 moves past the pin85;.

The relay switch 24, the signal lights, and the manual switch 25 willbest be described in connection with the operation as their structure isconventional. However, it may be mentioned that the winding of the relayswitch 24 has a predetermined relatively high ohmic and inductiveresistance which as will be seen is in the circuit controlled by thecontact device when the appliance is cut out or switched in. Thispermits a very small size of the contact surfaces as arcing is preventedor very substantially reduced on account of the high resistance in saidcircuit during the switching operation.

The surface may be as small as .003 inch. When using such a small sizeof the contact the danger of arc formation is in itself reduced oreliminated.

During operation which will be explained with reference to Figure 6, theoperator, if he wants to operate an electrical appliance at apredetermined time, first throws switch 25, then seizes handle 28 andturns arm 19 until the pointer 27 is moved to the proper graduationmark, indicating the desired hour. The setting of arm 19 by means ofhandle 28 moves the two segments 66, pinion as and shaft 56 therebyturning the fiber body 59 and the pin 6d. Setting the pin for a definiteposition, say the one shown in Figure 6. The clock is assumed to be inoperation and the clock motor 2% therefore moves the shaft 35 carryingthe pointers of the .clock and also moves the spur wheel 4d and therebythe spur gear wheel 45 and the fiber body or disk 49 with its collar 51and with its contact tooth 51 all the members rotating around the axisof pin 47.

During rotation of the clock the fiber disk 49 is in contact with theend or contact surface of pin 69 all the time. When rotation hasprogressed to the point in which the projecting tooth 51 is in front ofpin 64) and makes contact with it the circuit is closed running fromterminal 98 over conductor 1%, relay winding 24 (which has the selectedresistance value) over closed switch 25, conductor 102, contact rod '72,collar 59, contact tooth 51, pin 69, collar 54, contact rod 81,conductor 103, junction point 1&5, conductor 1'94, terminal 96. Therelay now attracts the armatures 166 and 108 closing contacts 109, 116thus connecting the appliance outlet 35 directly with the source ofelectric power at 96, 98. This circuit connection remains unchanged aslong as the relay is energized. The relay once energized, closes aholding circuit running from 98 over 101, 24, 111, S2, 83, 88, 91, 90,iii), 112, 1%, 110, 1415, 1%, 96. When the appliance socket is connectedwith the power line, signal light 23 indicates that full line voltagehas been applied.

When the operator desires to cut out the appliance at a preset hour headjusts lever 29 moving it to the point indicated on the graduationscale corresponding to this hour. This moves segment 66a, pinion 65a andfiber disk 83, placing pin 88 to a definite point which is reached bythe indentation 92 at the time which has been indicated by thegraduation mark on the wing plate 18. When the hour corresponding to thesetting of the pointer and lever 29 has been reached the holding circuitor relay is interrupted, as this circuit includes pin 88 which now restson the fiber disk 95 as long as the indentation 92 moves past pin 88.The relay is de-energized and cannot be energized again after thepassage of the indentation 92 when pin 33 comes again into contact withthe metal surface of the cup-shaped collar 90, as contacts 109, iii) arenow open.

The red light 26 is preferably a gas filled glow tube and is in serieswith the relay winding 24 when the switch 25 is thrown and itsresistance must be so selected that it is itself energized when inseries with the relay 24, but that it cuts down the voltage for therelay 24 to such an extent that the relay does not operate with the lamp26 in series with it. Otherwise expressed the red light must operate onthe voltage drop across its termi= nals when the relay coil is in serieswith it, while the high ohmic relay operates substantially only on thefull voltage available, but not on a voltage which has been reduced bythe gas filled tube 26.

Upon throwing of the switch 25 therefore the red light 25 Will beenergized and will light up while the relay coil 24 is not energizedbecause it is in series with the lamp .26. The red light then indicatesthat the apparatus is ready for operation.

When the pin 60 of the appliance controlling device 21 reaches the tooth51, the connection 104, 193, 81, 60, 51, 5th, 162, 25, 24, 101 shortcircuits the red light 26 which goes out while the relay 24 isenergized. As long as the relay 24 remains energized the red light isinoperative, the relay being energized over its holding circuit whichdoes not contain the red light 26. However, as soon as the appliance iscut in, the yellow indicator light 23 is energized, as has beendescribed above.

The relay holding circuit, as described above, now includes the annularskirt 91 of collar 90, the pins 38 and 82 and the conductors 103 and112. When the cut 92 of the skirt portion 91 faces the pin 83 thisholding circuit is interrupted the relay 2d falls back and is now inseries with the red light 26. The red light is now energized andindicates that the device has been cut out again.

It will be seen that the contact device operated by the electric clockmay operate with a normal line voltage of to v. without applying thefull voltage to the control contacts as the relay winding with its highresistance is always in series with the contacts when the contacts areopened or closed. This reduces arc formation so materially that thecontrol contacts may be provided with very small contact faces thusincreasing the accuracy of the device.

As the relay winding with its high resistance is in the circuit it isalso possible to keep the starting current of an appliance from passingthe contacts, thus reducing wear and preventing efiectively damage whichmay be done by a current surge.

It will be obvious that many changes may be made in the unessentialdetails without in any way departing from the essence of the inventionas defined by the annexed claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a combined time setting and switching device for making andbreaking a load circuit at definite preset times, a first rotatablecontact device for producing a short timed contact, a further rotatablecontact device for maintaining a connection for a definite period oftime and for interrupting a closed circuit at a predetermined instant,both contact devices consisting of two cooperating, contiguous rotatabledisks of insulating material, each provided with a contact having acontact surface arranged in the plane of rotation of the said disks onthe side facing the other disk, said contact surfaces being arranged atsuch distances from the axis of rotation that the contact surfaces ofthe two disks come into contact with each other during rotation of thedisks, a clock mechanism rotating one of the said insulating disks ofeach contact device with uniform angular velocity, means for manuailyrotating the other insulating disk of each contact device to move itscontact to a predetermined point for each desired operation, a relayswitch with a relay winding or" predetermined resistance and with relayswitch contacts, controlling said load circuit, an energizing circuitfor said relay switch, controlled by the first rotatable contact device,and a holding 7 circuit for said relay switch controlled by the relayswitch contacts and by the further rotatable contact device.

2. A combined time setting and switching device for making and breakingconnections in a load circuit at definite preset times, comprising aclock mechanism operating a shaft rotated at uniform angular speed,circuit controlling contact devices, each including a first rotatableinsulating body, rotated by the said clock operated shaft, and a contactcarried by said insulating body, having a contact surface arranged inthe plane of rotation, each of said contact devices moreover including afurther rotatable insulating body, and a contact carried by said lastnamed insulating body, said contact having a contact surface in a planeof rotation coincident with that of the first named contact, means formanually adjusting the position of said last named contact, a relayswitch with a relay winding of predetermined resistance, relay switchcontacts controlling said load circuit, an energizing circuit for saidrelay switch, and a holding circuit for the same, the latter controlledby the relay switch contacts and closed upon closure of the loadcircuit, a first one of said circuit controlling contact devices havinga contact on the said first rotatable body moved by the clock operatedshaft, being normally out of contact with, but moved towards themanually adjustable contact carried by the further insulating body forproducing an operative contact at a predetermined time, a second one ofsaid circuit controlling contact devices having a contact on said firstrotatable body, normally in contact with a manually adjustable contact,but moved out of contact after a predetermined angular rotation, theenergizing circuit of the relay switch being controlled by the first oneof the circuit controlled devices, and the holding circuit of the relayswitch being controlled by the second one of the said circuitcontrolling contact devices, the clock mechanism thus, after the settingof the manually adjustable contact devices to desired positions,energizing the relay switch when the movable contact of the firstcontact comes into operative contact with the manually adjustablecontact of this device, said relay switch thereafter remaining energizedafter its first energization by means of its holding circuit, until thelatter is opened by the second contact device, de-energizing the relayswitch and opening the load circuit.

3. In a time setting and switching device for making and breaking a loadcircuit at definite preset times, a first rotatable contact device forproducing a short timed con tact, a further rotatable contact device formaintaining a connection for a definite period of time and forinterrupting said connection at a predetermined instant, each of saidcontact devices including a body of insulating material having an endface located in a plane of rotation, and a second body of insulatingmaterial with an end face facing the first named insulating body, aclock mechanism driving a shaft, gear means on said shaft meshing withgear means mounted on the insulating bodies of each of said controlleddevices, an insulating body of the first rotatable contact device beingprovided with a projecting contact finger, having its contact facearranged in the end face of the insulating body located in the plane ofX'Qtc: tion of the said body, the second insulating body of the saidfirst contact device carrying a contact having its contact surfacearranged in the same plane of rotation in which the contact fingermoves, at a distance from the axis which is substantially equal to theradial distance of the contact finger from said axis of rotation, meansfor adjusting manually the position of the last named contact, a relayswitch with a relay winding of predetermined resistance controlling theload circuit, an energizing circuit for the relay switch controlled bythe first rotatable contact device, said circuit including the relaywinding of the relay switch, a holding circuit for said relay switchalso including the relay winding of the relay switch, controlled by thefurther rotatable contact device, the relay winding by its resistancethus limiting the current intensity of the circuits controlled by thecontact devices, the clock mecha- &

nism, after the setting of the manually adjustable contact of thecontact devices, thus energizing the relay switch when the movablecontact of the first contact device comes into operative engagement withthe manually adjustable contact of this device, the relay switchthereafter remaining energized over its holding circuit until the latteris opened, by the further contact device de-energizing the relay switchand opening the load circuit.

4. A time setting and switching device for making and breaking a loadcircuit at definite preset times as claimed in claim 1, wherein theinsulating body of the further rotatable contact device maintaining aconnection for a definite period and interrupting said connection at apredetermined instant is provided with a conducting sheet covering itsend face, said sheet being provided with an indentation, and being incontact with the contact surface of a contact provided on the secondinsulating body facing it.

5. A time setting and switching device as claimed in claim 2, whereineach of the insulating bodies is provided with a peripheral metalcollar, a conducting connection between each contact having a contactsurface parallel to the plane of rotation and the said metal collar anda stationary contact rod sliding on said metal collar during rotation ofthe insulating body for producing a connection between the contacts andthe outer circuits.

6. A time setting and switching device as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe means for adjusting manually the position of the contact carried bythe second insulating body of each circuit controlling device comprisesa hand operated pivoted lever, rotatable around a fulcrum, and providedwith a pointer, a graduation scale cooperating with said pointer toindicate the adjustment, a connection between said pivoted lever and theinsulating body to be rotated, said connection including a toothedsegment fixed to the lever and a gear wheel, a shaft connecting saidgear wheel with the said insulating body and means for pressing saidinsulating body against the insulating body facing it.

7. In a time setting and switching device for making and breaking a loadcircuit at definite preset times, a source of current, a relay switchwith a relay winding of predetermined resistance provided with switchcontacts, controlling said load circuit, a holding circuit for the relaywinding controlled by the said relay switch contacts and closed when theload current is closed, a rotatable contact device producing a shorttimed contact, a further contact device normally maintaining aconnection but interrupting the connection at a predetermined instant,both contact devices consisting of two cooperating contiguous rotatabledisks of insulating material, each provided with a contact carried onits end face, the contact surfaces of the said contacts being arrangedin the plane of rotation of the said disks, and at such distance fromthe axis of rotation that the contact surfaces of the contiguous diskscome into contact with each other during rotation, a clock mechanism,means operated by said clock mechanism rotating one of said insulatingdisks of each contact device, means for manually rotating and adjustingthe other one of said insulating disks so as to move its contact surfaceto a predetermined point, a circuit controlled by the contact device forproducing a short timed contact, connecting the source of current withthe relay winding to initiate the relay switch operation, said relayswitch contacts, when first operated, shifting the connection of therelay winding so as to include the holding circuit and the contactdevice for maintaining a connection for a definite period of time inseries, said holding circuit being interrupted and the load circuitbeing cut out by the said further contact device normally maintainingthe connection, when the relative movement of the contact of this deviceproduces an interruption of the connection.

8. In a time setting and switching device for making and breaking a loadcircuit at definite predetermined times, comprising a casing, anelectric clock. with a dial and pointers moving over said dial, wingplates projecting from said casing on both sides of the dial of theelectric clock, said wing plates being provided with graduations, aclock operated shaft rotated at uniform angular speed, two circuitcontrolling means, each including a first rotatable insulating bodydriven by the clock operated shaft and a contact carried by said body,having a contact surface arranged in a plane of rotation, and moreoverincluding a further rotatable insulating body, and a contact carried bythe said last named insulating body, said contact havin a contactsurface in a plane of rotation coincident with that of the first namedcontact, a manual adjustment lever for adjusting the position of thecontact on said further rotatable insulating body, said lever beingprovided with a pointer moving over the graduation scale of one of wingplates, a toothed segment carried by said manual adjusting lever, a gearwheel meshing with said segment, connected with and rotating the saidfurther rotatable insulating body and circuits connected with andcontrolled by the said contact devices, said circuits including a. relaywinding, an energizing circuit for said relay winding, controlled by oneof said circuit controlling means, relay contacts operated by said relayWinding, the load circuit being closed by said relay contacts uponenergization of the relay winding, a holding circuit for the relaywinding likewise closed by said relay contacts upon energization, theholding circuit being controlled by the second one of said circuitcontrolling means, the clock mechanism, after the setting of themanually adjustable contacts of the contact devices to desiredpositions, energiz. ing the relay switch when the movable contact of oneof said contact devices comes into operative contact with the manuallyadjustable contact of this device, said relay switch thereafterremaining energized by means of its holding circuit, until the latter isopened by the second one of the contact devices, de-energizing the relayswitch and opening the load circuit.

9. A combined time setting and switching device for making and breakingload circuits at definite predetermined times, comprising a clockmechanism, a first and a second contact device for making and breaking acircuit respectively, the first contact device including a manuallyadjustable contact moved into a fixed position for each desiredoperation and a movable contact adapted to be moved into operativeengagement with the contact moved to a fixed position, the secondcontact device including a manually adjustable contact and a movablecontact in operative contact relation with the manually adjustablecontact, said movable contact being adapted to be moved out of contactwith the manually adjustable contact during its movement, means formanually adjusting the contacts to be set for each desired operation ineach of the contact devices, means for driving the movable contacts ofthe contact devices by the clock mechanism, a relay switch with a relaycoil and relay switch contacts, an energizing and a holding circuit forthe relay coil of said relay switch, said holding circuit beingcontrolled by the relay switch contacts, and the energizing circuitbeing controlled by the first contact device, said holding circuit beingadditionally controlled by the second contact device, said relay switchcontacts further controlling the load circuit which is closed by theenergization of the relay switch and opened upon de-energization of therelay switch, the said clock mechanism after the setting of the manuallyadjustable contacts of the contact devices to fixed desired positionoperating the first contact device to energize the relay switch bymoving the movable contact of the first contact device into operativecontact with the manually adjustable contact, the holding circuit beingclosed by the energization of said relay switch and remaining closed,until again opened by the second contact device, moving its movablecontact out of operative engagement with the manually adjustablecontact.

10. A combined time setting and switching device for making and breakingan appliance carrying load circuit at definite predetermined times,comprising a clock mechanism, a first and a second contact device formaking and breaking a circuit respectively, each contact deviceincluding two coaxial rotatably mounted insulating contact carriers witnparallel sides facing each other, each of said parallel sides carryingone contact member brought into and out of contact with the contactmember on the opposite carrier side during rotational movement, meansfor manually adjusting the angular position of one of said contactcarriers carrying a contact member, means for driving the other contactcarrier and its contact member by the clock mechanism, a circuitconnected with each of said contact devices, a relay switch providedwith a relay winding of predetermined resistance and with switchcontacts operated upon energization of the winding of the relay, saidrelay Winding being included in the circuit controlled by the firstcontact device, a holding circuit for maintaining the relay switchclosed after its energizetion, said holding circuit being controlled bythe relay switch contacts and by the second contact device breaking thecircuit controlled by it, the load circuit in its turn being controlledby the contacts of said relay switch and being closed when the relayswitch is energized and opened upon de-energization of the relay switch,the clock mechanism, after the setting of the manually adjustablecontact devices to fixed desired positions, thus energizing the relayswitch when the movable contact of the first contact device comes intooperative engagement with the manually adjustable contact of thisdevice, the energization of said relay switch also closing the holdingcircuit which continues to energize the relay switch until the holdingcircuit is opened by the second contact device de-energizing the relayswitch and opening the load circuit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

